What We Do For You

An estimated 30 million Americans, including elderly people and children, go to bed hungry each night, or not knowing when their next meal will be. Plant A Row for the Hungry is a national, people-helping-people campaign launched by the Garden Writers Association of America in 1995.

The idea is simple: most gardeners harvest more than they consume. Through Plant A Row for the Hungry, gardeners contribute produce or plant an extra row. The produce is then donated to local organizations that distribute the food.

In 1998 ,Fred Pinkney, environmental contaminants biologist (and all-around good guy) heard about this program. He proposed replacing some unused turf at the Chesapeake Bay Field Office grounds with a vegetable garden. Field office staff volunteer to plant and care for the garden during their lunch break and after hours.

Over the past 10 years, our garden has produced 3,000 pounds of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash and melons. This produce is donated to our local food bank and homeless shelter.

Here is what the local paper had to say about our efforts:

Volunteers lend green
thumbs to worthy cause

By MAGAN CRANE, Staff
Writer

Very carefully,
Fred Pinkney lifted the plant's leaves, revealing just what he was looking
for, a large, shiny, green cucumber. He brushed off his trophy and tossed
it into a basket for eventual use in a salad. But this vegetable will
not grace Mr. Pinkney's plate.

Mr. Pinkney
and his coworkers at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office in Annapolis
have planted this garden for charity. "We've had a lot of success
with it," he said. "And it has been a lot of fun to monitor
the progress and see the results." And they have seen lots of results.,
So far this season the group has donated almost 200 pounds of food to
local shelters and food banks, and the bounty continues.

Mr. Pinkney
had been "longingly" eyeing a patch of grass near his office
on Admiral Cochrane Drive when he stumbled upon the national Plant a Row
for the Hungry program. The program encourages gardeners to plant an extra
row of fruits and vegetables and donate the surplus to charity.

"I found
about 10 people who had interest in working together," he said. "And
between us we had almost everything we needed. People brought in extra
plants and equipment and we had a soil scientist who works here, so we
found out what the soil needs." Before work and on their lunch hours,
a number of Fish and Wildlife employees have been planting, weeding and
now harvesting the tomatoes. peppers, cucumbers, and mystery squash"
that have flourished on the small plot.
They pooled together small contributions to come up with the $150 needed
for compost, fertilizer and a fence to fight off rabbits.

"Fred
was really excited at first, thinking we had to have the biggest vegetables
of all," graphic artist Laurie Hewitt said laughing. "We had
the hardest time convincing him that people want little cucumbers and
not these big, massive things."

Mr. Pinkney
said the exercise has also served as a new and creative way to build a
sense of community at work. "Everyone is always talking about team building," he said. "This
has really been a good experience. I've talked to people in the office
I would never have talked to."

Ms. Hewitt agreed, saying it has created a real connection to the community
at large.
"Its rewarding to contribute to the community," she said.
"It's a real tangible measurement of doing something. We're not just
sending money off somewhere, we're actually picking up 38 pounds of food
and handing it over."